Untitled

    Mr. LANTOS.   Mr. Speaker,
almost seventeen years ago three
Israeli soldiers were captured in
northeastern Lebanon following a
tank battle with Syrian and Palestin-
ian forces near the town of Sultan
Yaqub. One of the men was Sgt.
Zachary Baumel, an American citi-
zen living in Israel. His parents also
live in Israel and also are American
citizens.   The other two Israeli
soldiers captured at Sultan Yaqub are
Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz.
    According to press and intelli-
gence reports, a pro-Syrian faction of
the Palestinian Liberation Organiza-
tion (PLO) had custody of these three
men initially, but the faction later split
from the PLO and took the three
prisoners with them. Just hours after
the soldiers were captured, western
journalists in Damascus and Syrian
radio reported that three Israeli
soldiers were paraded through the
streets of Damascus in a victory
parade.
    Over ten years later, in 1993, the
families of the MlAs hoped their
ordeal might be over when Palestinian
Authority Chairman, Yasser Arafat,
returned half of Baumel's army
dogtag to Prime Minister Yitzhak
Rabin and promised to provide
additional information regarding the

MlAs of Sultan Yaqub. Over five
years have passed since that time, and
no additional information has been
forthcoming from Chairman Arafat.
    According to the Israeli newspa-
per Maariv (April 24, 1994), French
President Jacques Chirac raised the
issue of the three prisoners during a
visit to Lebanon. He reported on his
conversations in Beirut: "I spoke to
my friend, the Prime Minister of
Lebanon, and he told me in no
uncertain terms that only [Syrian
President Hafez al] Assad knows
what happened to the [Israeli]
POWs." Syrian officials, however,
have repeatedly denied knowledge of
the missing men.
    Syrian practice in the past has
been to deny publicly holding such
individuals. For example, the Syrians
repeatedly denied knowledge of a
group of Palestinians whom they held
for over a decade; the Palestinian
prisoners only became known when
the Syrian government released them
in 1995. On the basis of this
experience with Syria, it is quite
possible that these Israeli MlAs are
still alive and under Syrian control.
    Mr. Speaker, I have chosen to
introduce this legislation today be-
cause this day holds great signifi-
cance for the Jewish people. Today is

the first day of the month of Nissan on
the Jewish calendar. Nissan is a very
important month because Jews from
around the world celebrate Passover
and join with their families in the
observance of the holiday of freedom
in this month.
    It is in the spirit of this month that
I ask my colleagues in the Congress to
join me in helping Zachary Baumel,
Tzvi Feldman, and Yehuda Katz
return to their homes. Sitting in the
gallery today is Mrs. Miriam
Baumel, Zachary Baumel's mother,
whose tireless efforts on behalf of
H. R. 1175 are a testament of her deep
love for her son and her strong
support for this legislation. Miriam
and her husband, Yona, have visited
communities across our country and
have met with numerous Members of
Congress and congressional staff in
their tireless effort to rally support for
their son and to end to this family
tragedy.
    I have confidence in this house's
ability to do what is right, Mr.
Speaker. The Baumel, Feldman, and
Katz families should not have to
spend one more night worrying about
the fate of Zachary, Tzvi, and
Yehuda.
    H.R. 1175 directs the Department
of State to raise the fate of these